STATISTICS

Data from the Western world

General:
The Percentage of those suffering from eating disorders is between 14% -10% out of the general population.
About 50% of people with eating disorders are suitable for the diagnosis of type 1 depression
only 10% approach the health care system for treatment or counseling.
The eating disorders epidemic today is also a social disease in addition to the disease that always existed.
The mortality is higher than any other mental illness.

Mess media:
The body type shown in advertisements as the ideal one exists with 5% of the population.
47% of girls in ages 11-18 wanted to lose weight following the pictures they have seen in magazines.
69% of girls in ages 11-18 reported that pictures in magazines influence their perception of the "perfect body".
42% of girls in ages 6-9 want to be thinner.
81% of boys and girls at the age of 10 are afraid of being fat.

Youth:
Mortality rate from anorexia is 12 times higher than any other death cause in ages 15-24.
Over half of the girls and a third of teenage boys use some measures to control their weight, which are very harmful to their health, such as skipping meals, fasting, smoking cigarettes, vomiting and ingesting laxatives.
58% of women feel the pressure to be at certain weight and out of 83% who were dieting, 44% had normal weight.

Students:
91% of the student girls are trying to control their weight through dieting. 22% are "dieting" constantly.
86% reported the start of a period of eating disorders under the age of 20. 43% are between the ages of 16-20.
95% of people with eating disorders are between the ages of 12-26.
25% of women aged 18-24 suffer from binge and work to "cleanse" the body in order to control their weight.

Women:
Women comprise about 85% of those with eating disorders.
About 2% of women suffer from anorexia in their lifetime.
About 1.5% of teenage girls suffer from anorexia.
About 4.5% of women suffer from bulimia in their lifetime.
3% suffer from binge for at least six months.
About 50% of patients with anorexia adopt bulimic behavior.
About 20% of women suffering from anorexia will die from complications arising from the disease (cardiac arrest, organ collapse, malnutrition or suicide.)

Men:
About 15% of those suffering from eating disorders are men.
Men turn less to be treated as the disease is perceived feminine in their eyes.
About 14% of gay men suffer from bulimia and 20% look anorectic.

Athletes:
The percentage of eating disorders in elite athletes is higher than for the rest of the population.
Female athletes in gymnastics, dance, ballet, ice skating are at the highest risk of developing eating disorders.
There are common psychological denominators shared between athletes and those who suffer from eating disorders such as:
Perfectionism, high self-expectations, competitiveness, hyperactivity, repetitive exercise routine, compulsive, motivation, prone to depression, distortion of body image perception, preoccupation with diet and body weight.

Diet:
95% of people who "diet" return to their previous weight within five years.
35% of those trying a normal balanced diet goes on a radical diet. About 25% of them start developing symptoms of an eating disorder or fall to the disease.

The mortality rate:
Although eating disorders mortality rate is the highest of any mental disorder, the mortality rates of those suffering from eating disorders is higher than reported because they may eventually die from
heart failure, organ failure, malnutrition or suicide. Very often, medical complications are the reported death cause instead of the eating disorder itself
which is the main cause damaging the patients health.